Abandoned - Sugar and Spice - Story 23 NWS

[Abandoned]

Intro


  This is the 23rd story in the New World Series.  Many folks along the northern trade route had migrated from the North Pole region.  They now wanted to make some of the traditional Christmas foods and drinks that they had back home, but many of those recipes call for sugar or special spices that they cannot raise themselves or trade for.  Only the town of Woodlands Wood (story 11) has some of the spices, and they only trade some away every now and then.  However, there is a small settlement in the far north that supplies the North Pole with sugar and spice and other things nice for Christmas.  The town is north of Dwarves' Quarry just off Newburg's main river.  Riverboat Depot learned of the small settlement from 2 young river boatmen, and they want to get some of the sugar and spices for their customers before Christmas.






Map seed  #995009428   Valley,  Small,  fair,  Disasters Off,   Easy 8 (no seeds, no animals)
 
 
Mods activated for this map and load order:

Map Changing and Starting Mods:   Banished UI Maps, Banished UI Town Names, Labor Window, RK Minimized Status, CC Light Rain, Landscape Nordic (TS), New Flora Edit, Family Starts.

Tweak Mods:   Fishing Dock +25%, Hunting, Hunting Season, Increased CC, 1:1 Alternative (Voeille), override Winter Clothes, Rock Respawn, Tiny Smoke.

Major or Must Have Mods:    An Empty Square, Nomads (Kid), override Uneducated, Storage Crates, Kid Workshop,  Jinxie Festival Park, Kid Abandoned Places SE, Kid Tiny, Kid Tiny Builders, Kid Tiny Downtown, Kid Workplace Village.

Supporting Mods:    Campfire, Christmas Mod (Kid), Fly Fishing, Goahti, Kid Animal Barn Plus, Kid Farmyard, Kid Fruit & Nut, Kid Garden Shed II, Kid Hedgerow, Kid Patchwork, Kid Some Boats, Kid The Glade, Nordic Frame House, Nordic Granary, Nordic Healer Hut, Nordic Houses v1.3 (Kid, updated with Christmas Mod roof), Nordic Hunting Cabin, Nordic Log Cabin, Nordic Sauna, Nordic Smoke House, Nordic Tailor, Red Cottage, Tjurko Mill, White Picket Fence. (Most of these mods are separate from Tom Sawyer's The North)


  Welcome to Sugar & Spice, eager explorer.  You were in the right place at the right time to be able to volunteer to come here; it's a good place to be for Christmas.  I understand you had a horrifying experience at the Coven of Darkness and only just managed to escape with your life; you went to Riverboat Depot to warn them of the danger, and here you are.  Both St. Nick and Santa are aware of the problems at the Coven of Darkness, but they stop there every year nevertheless; the children should not suffer because of the misdeeds of the parents.

  We appreciate you coming to warn us, eager explorer.  Here have a cookie while I tell you about Sugar & Spice.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 1


  We actually knew you were coming, eager explorer, Santa told us to prepare.  Well, Santa knows who's naughty and nice, and he knows who wants sugar and spice.  In fact, the elves at the North Pole were in need of more of each for their Christmas baking and candy making for Santa; there were more towns and a lot more children and those elves were having a hard time keeping up.  Woodland Woods was doing a good job providing the North Pole with extra wooden toys but had little else to spare.  Our town of Sugar & Spice was founded in order to provide the North Pole with the needed items for baking and candy making.



  A group of Nord workers was brought to this valley first to establish a settlement with all the basics a town would need before Santa's elves would arrive.   Three work sleighs arrived in this valley; one sleigh brought 30 settlers, 16 adults with 14 children.   My husband, Lorian, and I were chosen to lead the group because he was a dwarf and I was a wood elf, and we had no children yet.  My name is Aracee. The rest of the group was made up mostly of nords but there were a few dwarves and half-elf spouses as well.  Dwarves are good at building, elves at living off the land and caring for animal, and nords are good with crops and livestock as well.

  Another work sleigh brought seeds, livestock, and feed.  There was a milk cow, a few sheep, and a small flock of chickens.  It was critical to get a shelter built for the animals, especially the baby chicks.  A third work sleigh brought building materials to get us settlers off to a good start; there was wood, stone, iron, firewood, and 3 carts of supplies.  The carts contained iron tools, hide coats, and potatoes.  Yes, eager explorer, it is amazing how much these sleighs can carry; it's part of the magic of Christmas. 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 2


  Two of the sleighs were unloaded and went back to the North Pole immediately, I made sure each reindeer had a handful of magic feed corn to eat before the flight back.  The chickens were bundle up in sacks and put back on the 3rd sleigh that held the sacks of seeds and feed.  The animal barn was already under construction.  Food and shelter for both animals and people were top priority.



  A fishing pier was built nearby on the river and a goahti was quickly built on the shore for the 2 fishermen.  It was cold out there in the open on that pier; they needed a place to warm up.  The rest of the group could warm up on the sleigh or in the animal barn which was completed in early spring.  A pen was built outside the barn so the animals could graze on warmer days.  The baby chicks would have to stay in the barn a bit longer.





  A cleaning shed was built next to the pen to keep it clean.  The fertilizer would go to the newly built greenhouse where carrots, potatoes, oats, onions, and berries were planted.   Some sunflowers were added for winter feed for the chickens.  Edible plant debris would also be used to feed the animals.  On the south side of the animal barn a farmyard was planted with wheat, beans, and an apple tree I found in the nearby forest. The older chickens gathered under the apple tree.  A patch of wheat was also planted but did not seem to be doing as well as the wheat in the farmyard; it was a bit more exposed to the cold wind.  Some firewood was being cut in the farmyard, and a Nordic log cabin was built there for the farmers.  Lorian and I moved into a log cabin across from the animal barn and next to the greenhouse where we would be close by to supervise the main crops and animals.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 3


  Just west of our nordic cabin is where I found the small apple tree that was moved to the farmyard. There was an older apple tree that would do better with more room to grow, and there were 2 walnut trees there too.  The elf who would return the 3rd sleigh to the North Pole was told there would be apples and walnuts for St. Nick, but there would be no cookies or candy until after the elves arrived.  More apples and nuts were needed to fill the stockings; one of St. Nick's sleighs would come to pick them up.



  Further to the west in the forest was a small glade.  There were 2 rare deer that would be left unharmed but there were plenty of rabbits and ducks.  There would be meat from both plus furs and down for coat making and wild oats too.  We would need to make coats soon.



  A wooden house and another nordic log cabin were built east of the stockpile.  There at the base of a small hill was a double hedgerow with more rabbits, berries, and a lot of branches that could be used for firewood.  There was another small glade southeast of those 2 houses.   More glades and hedgerows would probably be found when more of the area was explored.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 4


  Exploring further to the southeast where the small stream flowed into the river, an area of clay soil was discovered.  Clay would be needed for some of the nordic building and for making bricks and roof tiles that were also required for some buildings.  Way up to the north, at the point where the small stream separated into two streams, sand was deposited from the runoff from the sandstone mountains.  Sand would be needed to make a thicker glass for this cold nordic climate.  Lorian, who was in charge of the builders and building projects was glad to find the needed building materials nearby.

  The area to the north and the east were heavily wooded with mostly pine trees but there were some scattered birch trees among them. There were a few clearings here and there.  The ground was littered with surface stone and iron chunks.  There was a stone bridges crossing the stream over to the east.



   Back down by the river, not far from where a worker started digging for clay, a herd of reindeer was discovered.  A hunter was sent to the spot, and he soon had a goahti built for his family and a campfire for roasting some of the venison.  The leather hides would be used to make warm coats.  Another stone bridge crossed the stream.  Using those 2 stone bridges would have to be done with care; the water in the stream was fast moving and icy cold.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 5


  The weather was getting colder and the days getting shorter.   A covered woodcutter was built next to the stockpile; workers had to gather branches when firewood was in short supply.





  A small pit house storage unit was quickly built in an attempt to get the supplies out of the 3 carts, but it snowed before the task was done.   There was a nice variety of foods but not a lot of any one thing except potatoes.  Potatoes were good.

  As the temperature continued to drop, the animals were taken into the barn.  The nesting boxes were stuffed with straw and covered with leather. The baby chicks were bigger by then but still huddled under the mother hen's wings.  The roosters huddled together in a large crate filled with straw and covered with leather too. If it got much colder, they would have to be taken into one of the houses and kept warm by the heath.  Wool blankets were put over the cow and the sheep to help keep them warm. 



  There were still 2 families without homes.  A nordic wooden house was built across from the wheat patch.  The clearing allowed snow to blow up against the door to the wooden house.  In this cold climate it was best to have the house and barn doors facing south or east.  Another goahti was quickly built for the last family; it was near the fishing pier with its door facing the river to the south.

  By early winter of that 1st year, all 8 families had homes, 5 of the families had newborns, 2 boys and 3 girls.  Lorian and I had a baby boy we named Domenicole.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 6




  The days were much shorter now and it got dark early, but we got the toddlers and older children to bed because we were expecting a visit from St. Nick that early winter night.  Each child got a very large gingerbread man cookie, a handfull of candy and nuts plus a piece of fruit  in their stockings.  They got plums and pecans because we already had apples and walnuts, and we had a few small sacks for St. Nick to pick up.  We did not have a lot of either that first year but St. Nick was happy with what we had for him.  He had a lot of children to visit that night.  Our children played with their gingerbread men cookies as if they were toys long before they decided to eat them.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 6   (continued)




  The greenhouse worker planted some of the plum pits hoping for a few plum tree seedlings to plant outside in spring.  By then, a tailor shop was built.  There were not many hides or pieces of wool but enough for a few warm coats.  The workers and elves that arrived by sleigh at that time were eager to get out of their travel clothes and into something warm and comfortable.  There were 35 of them, 29 adults with 6 young children.  Four families of workers each had 1 young adult child, and 3 of those families also had a young child; there was one single adult male named Johanni.  Two nordic log cabins, a wooden house, and a goahti were built for 3 of the families and Johanni.  Another patch of wheat was planted by the log cabin across from the apple and walnut trees.





  The last family of 3 workers built a wooden house next to the mill that had been built on the small stream; the adult daughter would be the miller.  The water was fast moving and the mill wheel turned steadily.  The mill also served as a bridge over to the other side where a garden shed was built for 2 foresters to work cutting and planting trees.  Logs and firewood were in short supply.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 7


  Lorian and I were in charge, and we had our orders to see that the town was functioning efficiently before Santa's elves got down to the business of producing sugar and spices for the North Pole.  More workers and elves would be joining us when the work at the North Pole got caught up with demand. Our priority was food and housing, but we built a town hall to see where we stood so far.  Inventory records showed that we were not only very short on wood and clothing, but we were almost out of tools.



  We were also short of storage space even though a 2nd pit house was built next to the 1st one by the stockpile.  A Nordic shed that was quickly built by the greenhouse help a bit too.

  We also quickly built a Santa's Magic Workshop to start producing some needed coats and tools, but typically Santa's elves made gingerbread cookies first.  No, eager explorer, not the big ones that St. Nickolas brings the children, a smaller version but just as good.  Here, have a few.  Well, I suppose Santa's elves do work better with a few Christmas treats, but there you have the reason that Santa's elves need supervision. No, I'm not one of Santa's elves, I'm more of an elf helper with a Santa hat.





   We noticed that the laborers often had too far to go.  We continued building roads, and a granary was built near the mill so the wheat would be closer to where it was needed.  A second-floor house was built above Santa's workshop for one of the elf families, and a tiny smith was built next to the town hall by the main stockpile.  We still had homeless families; it was cold and had been snowing since the beginning of autumn.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 8




  A small red barn was built in town by the other storage units; the remaining homeless elves took shelter in the new barn rather than in the animal barn.  Four bright red nordic houses were under construction for them next to Santa's workshop.  A young single male moved into one of the houses and a young female of the same age from another family moved in with him; they were the town's first new couple.  The last homeless family moved into a second nordic house that was built over by the mill.





  That last family had only just moved into their house in early summer when another sleigh with 14 more workers and elves arrived.  There were 10 adults with 4 young children.  The sleigh was parked next to the greenhouse across from the pit house storage units.  It was loaded with things to make our holidays merry and bright, but we had work to do before then.  The sleigh would not be returned to the North Pole anytime soon.



  The two reindeer were put in the animal pen with the cows and sheep. The animals were still outside the barn grazing in the summer sun.  Most of the chickens had again wandered out of the pen and into the nearby farmyard.  It would not be long before the weather got colder, and they would all be returned to the barn; it would be more crowded now because the animals had multiplied since we'd been here.

[kid1293]

Hi.
Here are the Nordic Houses with new roofs.

https://worldofbanished.com/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;id=719

[Abandoned]

   Thanks @kid1293  Very nice update with the Christmas roofs added to the original. 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 9




  The first snowflakes of the season fell in autumn.  By then we had 2 houses and 2 animal sheds built over by the mill and granary.  A sheep shed would house 3 of the sheep, and the larger animal shed had room for a cow and several chickens.  More milk and eggs were needed; our food supply was very low.  An extra worker had been assigned to the greenhouse and laborers went out to gather wild foods before they were buried under the snow.  The wool was needed for coats; our supply was depleted.

  A young single male moved into the new nordic house that was built across from the sheep shed, and a couple with 2 young children moved into the nordic log cabin on the road back to town.  A nordic shed was built there across from the granary.  A gatherer's workplace was built next to the forester's shed across the bridge so the small shed would soon have a supply of wild foods plus milk and eggs for the nearby families.



 Some of the flour from the mill was also put in that shed.  We thought that across from the shed behind the granary would be a good place to build a workplace baker's oven; the spot was protected from the winter wind by the evergreen trees.  The baker began making a hearty nut bread with flour and walnuts; we did not have enough herbs for herb bread.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 10




  A bake shop and a candle shop were built down the road near Santa's workshop.  A young single male moved into the rooms above the bakeshop and a couple with a 5-year-old daughter moved into the candle shop.  The elves had all the candle making equipment on the sleigh.  A tiny shed was built across from the 2 shops, and a beehive was set up next to it with a awning over it.  The bees would provide honey for our baking needs saving whatever sugar we produced for the North Pole.  The candlemaker would have beeswax for the candles.



 A Christmas baker oven was built next to the bake shop but there were no spices yet for making gingerbread cookies or plum cakes.  The plum seeds, that were started in the greenhouse from the plums that Saint Nicholas brought, sprouted one seedling that was later transplanted outside and produced the first few plums that year.



  Southeast of the workshop and house, 2 chestnut trees were found when laborers began cutting trees in that location.  They found a few spice plants growing under those trees; they would be useful until spice houses were built.  Building was slow going because we were always short of logs; firewood cutting and tool making were first in line for the logs.

  The garden shed across the stream from the mill had 2 foresters working but it was not enough; trees grew slowly here in the north.  Another garden shed was being built by the stream west of the bright red nordic houses. There were 2 stone bridges crossing the stream to a densely wooded area.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 11




  In spring of year 4, our wood, firewood, and clothing supplies were still very low.  Laborers went across the stream from the new garden shed to help cut trees.  It was enough to build homes for two more families.  A Songs & Carols store was built next to the candle shop.  An older couple will teach the children tradition Christmas songs for our Christmas celebrations.



  A tiny chapel was built between the carols shop and the granary.  Behind the chapel an area was designated as a town cemetery; a white picket fences marked off the area.  A caretaker's house was built and a young single girl moved in.  She would do her regular job and look after the cemetery and the tiny chapel too.

  Another bright red nordic house was built for the last family by the others, but closer to the chestnut trees.  Another older couple moved into that house.  They talked of building a hen house for a few of our chickens.



  We finally got to the reason we were here; 3 greenhouses were built there by the red houses, 1 sugar house and 2 spice houses.  Santa's elves reminded us to produce enough for our own needs as well; honeybees did not do well here in the cold north.